Microprocessor systems are systems in which all components of a processor are combined on a microchip. This may also be a microcontroller or a so-called System on Chip (SoC). Microprocessor systems often occur in the form of embedded systems in articles such as chip cards, consumer electronics, office electronics, motor vehicles, mobile telephones and even clocks. Microprocessor systems are also included in virtually all computer peripherals. The power and equipment of microprocessor systems are adapted to their respective intended use.
A multiplicity of microprocessor systems which, with largely the same design, differ in terms of their register width and clock frequency as well as in terms of their memory size and system properties, for example when in the form of a microcontroller, are known. Companies which use microprocessor systems for installation in their devices must often have a multiplicity of different microprocessor systems with different system parameters in stock in order to respond quickly and flexibly to the wishes of their customers. The storage and provision of a multiplicity of microprocessor systems require a considerable amount of effort in terms of storage and logistics. In addition, capital is bound by the need to store a multiplicity of different microprocessor systems.
In order to avoid the effort in terms of storage and logistics and the associated costs, U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,753 discloses an apparatus and a method for securely configuring a generic computer system, that is to say a computer system delivered with maximum configuration. On the basis of the maximum configuration, the customer can select the desired system properties and memory sizes and can enable them using a release code. The customer pays only for the system properties and memory sizes selected and used. The system properties and memory areas which have not been selected are blocked and are therefore not accessible to the customer.
If, for example, a semiconductor manufacturer then delivers a larger number of generic microprocessor systems with electronically releasable memory sizes and/or releasable system modules to a customer, with the result that the latter can accordingly configure the microprocessor systems in accordance with the end customers, the customer would have to retrieve the corresponding release code from the semiconductor manufacturer in a timely manner for each microprocessor system to be configured. This would have the disadvantage of the semiconductor manufacturer being forced to provide a multiplicity of release codes around the clock in order to allow configuration-dependent billing. On the other hand, the customer would have to retrieve the necessary release codes in good time and would have to enter them in his production system. The practices of providing and retrieving a large number of release codes for configurable microprocessor systems therefore entail a large amount of effort in terms of logistics and therefore high costs both for the semiconductor manufacturer and for the customer.